Plants in Wisconsin

Still work to do, but the season is short

2011-11-13T18:59:00.001-08:00

Just a quick update tonight. We saw some good rain today. It held off until early afternoon making for some additional garden cleanup. The broccoli is final done, it was good. We are still harvesting kale and will into December. The brussel sprouts are trying to make it, but they are late, perhaps too late. My learning is that I need to get them started earlier and give them a little more shoulder room.

Thanks to Selmer Tree Trimming for a load of chips. We continue to add to the planting bed on the property line. Can still use at least two more truck loads. We'll see.

A busy week at work is planned so little additions.

Be safe, it will soon be time for planting seeds inside.

Bill

The end is getting closer

2011-11-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

Got a lot of work done in the garden this weekend. Harvested carrots (very sweet and relatively big), removed asparagus tops (frost had taken care of them), removed spent pole beans and tomatoes from their trellis systems, and turned under 4 beds (double dug the tomato bed).

The brussel sprouts are still growing good and Thanksgiving meal is assured. The kale continues to hold up well. Green smoothies are great.

The balance of the garlic was ground and put into the fermenting jar. Very pungent, but a great way to preserve.

I will have pictures by Thanksgiving.

Be good and be safe.

Bill

Welcome Back! - Garlic

2011-10-24T18:38:00.000-07:00

It has been a very long summer. Personal and work life have not been in balance. I have no one else to blame but myself. The garden did great thanks to my wonderful wife. While the brussel sprouts were late (and still have a ways to go), the kale has done great. Tomatillo's abounded and 2 full gallons of fermented salsa have been put up. Beets also did well. A 5 gallon bucket is currently fermenting with ginger, orange zest, cinnamon, and cloves. Should make for a great Thanksgiving.

The garlic planting was completed yesterday. We planted all hardneck varieties. Included in the mix were Maxatawny, Killarney Red, Chinese Purple, Gabriel's Red, Bavarian, Bangkok Turban, Chrysalis Purple, German White, and one that has been around for years but the name slips me.

Two beds this year. 8" rows and 6" spacings. This should set us up for 150+ cloves of great garlic. All of the remaining garlic will be peeled and then put through the food processor for fermenting. This is a great way to preserve garlic for the winter.

Sorry it has been awhile since I have posted. I will try to take more time.

Thanks,

BVB

Hot, humid and lots of work to do

2011-07-31T17:20:00.000-07:00

Best decision of 2011, grow the salad green in pots on the deck.

Basil and Parsley in the kitchen garden

Parisian Pickler cucumbers on the trellis

Cole crops: broccoli and cauliflower

Onions on the left, mixed peppers on the right

Trellised tomatoes, mulched and yielding good

Asparagus, done for the season, weed, fertilized, and mulched

Kale and Chard

It was garlic, now it it is planted for fall: beans, carrots, beets, chard

Red currants, ready for the deh

First, my apologies for the delay in pictures. It has been a busy year so far with work, my parents health, and just being busy in general. As you can see, the garden has been quite good. The asparagus was late, but it yielded good. It's put to bed for the year, weeded, fertilized, and mulched.

We are enjoying the triple kale treat this year. We chose 3 varieties and all are unique. Makes a great morning "green shake". The chard is also doing very good for cooking and smoothies. As late as the year was, cold and wet, all the crops are coming on good now.

One thing with the heat, we are learning that the raised beds need a lot more mulch and water. They plants are really growing.

Enjoy the pictures. If you have questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Bill

Garden time.... moving fast!

2011-05-22T19:08:00.000-07:00

If you would have asked me yesterday, I would have told you that I was not going to be planting anything in the garden on Sunday, 5/22. Even waking up this morning, I really questioned the possibility. Even up until 3pm, I still questioned my sanity for asking.

I was WRONG.

Spent most of the morning doing some general repair of a raised bed that was damaged when we took the birch down earlier this summer. A new 2x6 was all that was called for. Also tried out my father-in-laws B&D 14" electric string trimmer. Not very good reviews on Amazon, but it did a really great job for me.

My wonderful wife took the time to spend a couple of hours weeding and all she asked was that I help. Gladly. We got a big push done and now both of the big compost barrels are full. Grass cutting took almost 2 hours given the amount of growth that has gone on.

Some pictures to mark the progress that is finally being made. Thank goodness for raised beds!

Harrow Sweet Pear - Garden Spot

Contender Peach - Garden Spot

Bartlett Pear - Garden Spot

The garden beds are a blessing in a wet year like the one we are in. In a lot of instances, people are still going to be a week or more out. Get me close, and I can get it in!

Onions are starting to come on very quickly

Block planted greens: chard, beets, spinach. Yes, the beans are up!

Parisian Pickling Cucumbers

Peas, and the trellis is ready!

Tomatoes after a hard rain, with a little hail thrown in.

ASPARAGUS - this is what it is all about!

Garlic, three ways. Getting ready for a foliar feeding!

Be safe, stay dry, and always practice safe gardening.

Bill

Warm day, time to plant.

2011-05-20T19:02:00.000-07:00

Took the opportunity to get 5 more garden beds tilled as well as planted 11 broccoli, cauliflower, and kale plants tonight. Looks like everything we planted on May 8 is through the ground. Took time to finish planting my greens bed. Believe it or not, I have beans through the ground.

Windy, Cold. Windy. Cold.

2011-05-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that today is the 15th of May. I had to wear a sweatshirt today when I cut the grass. Cold northerly winds went right to the bone. The good news is that today was relatively sunny, warming the soil and allowing for some opportunistic weeding.

Really nothing to report new in the garden. Everything that we planted last week is pretty much sitting, waiting for warmth to start growing. I expect to see radish plants poking their heads up pretty quick. The rest of the garden beds are too wet to work. Perhaps we will see something by the end of the week.

I did have the opportunity to get out to the UWGB NAS Heirloom Plant sale. #17 in line. One of of my best performances. Picked up 32 plants: tomatoes, peppers, flowers, and some other stuff. I have to say, the selection was great and the plants looked great.

I then took a quick trip up to Oconto to visit the Martins at Garden Spot. Picked up 3 fruit trees for the yard. Two bare root pears and a potted peach tree. Kind of difficult to think about planting things when it was raining pretty hard. Great looking trees and a great selection. Ronald is very helpful.

I have moved my transplants of broccoli, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts outside. They got a good workout in the wind, but it will toughen them up. Hopefully this week I can get the balance of the kale up and on the deck.

We'll see what the week brings. I would like to get some more in the garden.

Until then, garden safe.

Bill

Happy Mother's Day - Spring may actually be here.

2011-05-08T19:19:00.000-07:00

Took advantage of the break in the wet / cold weather to tackle the garden tasks at hand. Primarily, we have been waiting on the soil to dry out in order to plant some of the cool season seeds (spinach, swiss chard, and beets). Given that it stayed relatively dry over the past few days and the sun decided to shine, I was able to do a little work on Saturday to break open the soil. On Sunday, I was able to get the Mantis tiller out and work 4 beds into somewhat reasonable shape for planting.

#8, #5, #9, and #13 all got worked. #9 was planted with Sugar Snap peas, after I got up the trellis for the new plants to hang themselves on. I also planted 3 blocks of spinach, beets, and swiss chard along with 3 blocks of Speedy green beans. I know that it is probably a little bit early for the beans, but they do taste good. I also stuck a number of radish rows into the planting.

I did finish weeding the asparagus beds (#1-#4). It seems the work was just in time as I have a meal of asparagus almost ready for picking.

The raspberries are slow due to the wet and cold. I am very concerned about the purple raspberries coming back after a very, very rough wet summer last year. Some of the red raspberries have broken dormancy, but I have not been able to find any signs from the purple. Time will tell.

The inside seedlings continue to make progress. I probably will have a couple of potted candidates to take outside, sometime this week. Kale, broccoli, and brussel sprouts make up the base of most of the plantings.

Hoping we don't get deluged this week. It would be good to get at least another one or two beds ready to go.

Remember, the NAS Heirloom Plant Sale at UWGB is this Saturday at 9 am. They start handing out numbers at 7am.

Have a good week.

Bill

A week after Easter and it still feels like it could snow

2011-05-01T18:45:00.000-07:00

With the cold and wet weather continuing, I took the opportunity to plant some spinach and swiss chard inside. It will give me a leg up once it gets dry enough to work in the garden beds. The onions are still very slow, and probably quite cold. Once the weather warms, they should shoot right up.

The garlic is doing well after an application of bone meal.

We had some very wet weather last year and I was afraid my raspberry patch was a memory. Today, I got in and cleaned them out. For the most part, I was pleasantly pleased. I saw good regrowth on all 4 varieties. The primocanes from last year showed enough life to be optimistic about the potential for a crop this year. Time will tell.

Next week is Mother's Day. Make sure you plant something for your Mom.

A note of reminder. May 14 9:00 am will be the annual heirloom plant sale at the UWGB NAS. I know that I will be there early.

Be good and be safe. We'll talk next week.

Bill

Took the opportunity....

2011-04-25T19:26:00.000-07:00

The weekend was very good. A good break on Saturday afternoon and Sunday from the rain. After another day of drying today, I planted both the yellow and red onion plants that I picked up from Garden Spot on Saturday.

The soil worked up very good and I was able to get the 3 rows of double plants into one of the 12' beds. 6 " spacings will allow for a generous taking of green onions throughout the summer and some really great onions later on into July/August.

Rain is predicted for the next few days so timing appears to be good. Keeping fingers crossed.

Be good..

Bill

Happy Easter from the still cold waste lands of the Frozen Tundra

2011-04-24T07:02:00.000-07:00

Chives are doing great!

We still find ourselves in the middle of a continuing cold and wet stretch. Last week saw 10" of wonderful white stuff grace our yards. For the most part, the snow is gone and only small plow banks survive. Yesterday was rainy and cold. You know the kind of cold, right down to the bone. It did clear up a little in the afternoon with the sun finally coming out after 4pm and allowing the temps to get into the high 40's.

I took the opportunity to get a few more seeds into starting medium. Red Russian kale and cauliflower made it into starting cups. I will start some dwarf curly kale on Sunday.

Also on Saturday a trip to Garden Spot in Oconto to check out the plants. Ronald and Lillian Martin have a great little green house located about 4 miles west of Oconto on Hwy 22. For people reading this, Ron is a regular at the Saturday Farmer's Market in Green Bay. I picked up my onion plants (Red & Sweet Yellow), some primocane Blackberries (PrimeJim & PrimeJan), and some kale seed I was looking for. I will be following up on a couple of fruit trees this week. Be sure to check it out: Garden Spot, 3645 Hwy 22, Oconto 920-835-1237, M-Sa 8:30-6:00, closed Sunday. Well worth the drive.

The garden continues to lag. Cold and rainy does not get the garden started. The garlic is doing great and will get little help from some bone meal today. After that, it will be all about foliar feeding with fish emulsion.

Grass is green but beds are very cold and very wet!

Garlic is doing well, despite the snow of last week!

It's April 19th in NE Wisconsin.

2011-04-19T19:50:00.000-07:00

8-10" of snow. Aren't we supposed to be planting?

Hopefully we can make it to work tomorrow.

OK. It's late, but....

2011-04-16T09:27:00.000-07:00

It's tax time and not time to be planting seeds. I know that. I articulate that. I still don't follow my own advice.

Today, I planted the following:
Brussel Sprouts - Long Island Improved, Bubbles
Broccoli - DiCicco, Calabrese
Kale
Cauliflower
Basil - Italian Large Leaf, Genovesse, Thai, Licorice, Sweet
Parsley - Moss Curled, Double Curled, Italian Dark Green
Cilantro
Rosemary
Lettuce / Romaine - Outback, Caeser Blend
Swiss Chard - Lucullus, Bright Lights

They are sitting on top of the boiler so a nice heat source that should help the seed explode.

This year I am going to do a lot more staggered planting of our plants. Think about it. You go to your local garden center and get some plants that most likely have been started at the same time. They might have been slowed up to meet some predetermined delivery window. The way I look at it, one should keep the plants growing very, very fast and not slow the process down. From inside, to deck, to hardening off, to garden.

Time will tell. Consider that the sleet on the windows last night put me to sleep and the flooded back yard welcomed me to light of day. Remember, this is spring.

Be safe.

Why would you want to garden.

2011-04-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

A great article from ThePeoplesVoice.org should give everyone a new reason to plant a garden this year. Some of the thoughts you will agree with and some not. But in general, you can't argue with them.

Enjoy the read.

Bill

The garden season is almost done, but not quite yet!

2010-12-12T16:24:00.000-08:00

Today, I picked a nice big handful of kale from the garden. I know the temperature and the conditions (10 and blizzard), but we needed fresh kale for our non-pasta Wedding Soup. It was frozen and I'm sure some of the snow made it into the soup pot, but I am certainly into season extenders.

We will most likely have another 2 or 3 meals and then, after the first of the year, it will be done.

Be safe and be warm.

Bill

This is getting very close to the end of the garden....

2010-12-05T13:41:00.000-08:00

Today we picked what I think will be our next to last kale. Yes, the weather has been in the very low teens for the better part of 12 days but the produce was great. All of the kale went into kale chips and was safely in the dehydrator within 30 minutes of picking. I have to say, the outcome (finished kale chips) is certainly something to wait for.

We'll watch the weather but I expect the last picking will be in the next week or so. If the weather stays above 10, we should be OK.

Hanging on for that late, late unprotected harvest.

Bill

Thanksgiving and the garden

2010-11-26T12:27:00.000-08:00

Well we had our first really, really cold night on Thanksgiving night. It got down to 12. Took a walk into the garden and examined the kale - still hardy and waiting for a respectable harvest. Oh, it keeps getting better.

My wonderful wife put a batch of kale chips into the dehydrator. Mixed with nutritional yeast, cider vinegar, and other goodies. They came out with a great taste, just the right level of crispy texture. Oh yes, Frito Lay will never get this close.

Stay warm. Off to the farm tomorrow for milk, cheese, and meat.

Bill

Almost Thanksgiving

2010-11-21T18:13:00.000-08:00

For most people this time of year in Northeastern WI would mean the garden is done and time to start planning the work for next year. I am still harvesting out of the garden. Tonight, we had kale and swiss chard, both of which have not been covered at all. This was stir fried on the gas grill with onions and garlic (all from the garden) along with a nice piece of wild salmon. I fully expect to be harvesting kale and swiss chard up until close to Christmas.

I did have the chance to get the last of the beds spaded. Yes, hand spading is still the choice for me. It tends to really do a good job of breaking up the soil and letting the weather do its thing. I still have to clean up the asparagus beds and mulch them, but I will wait until it gets a little colder. Looks like we will have some overflow work into December.

We will take the opportunity over the next few weeks to clean up all of the extra garlic and put it up for lacto-fermenting. This will give us garlic for the rest of the year, with NO sprouting.

Wishing everyone a safe and prosperous Thanksgiving holiday.

We'll talk soon.

Bill

Time to plant garlic

2010-10-17T17:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday (10/16) we planted 75 hard neck garlic (3 varieties). The bed had already been double dug, a healthy dose of 2 year old compost applied, and the requisite organic fertilizer applied. It was a quick mix with the Mantis tiller (yes, I really like my little tiller) to get a seed bed that was perfect for planting. Raked the top level and layed out the marker lines. Five 8' rows with 15 cloves to a row. My actual planting was 3 rows, 4 rows, and 8 rows of three different varieties. Punched them in by hand, gave them a quick shot fish emulsion and then finished back filling and tamping.

I also took the opportunity to plant 5 allium bulbs that needed to be moved. I got these into the big rose bed in back, knowing that they will be a good addition to the bed. Good moisture and good soil tilth, even after this weird growing season we've had.

We also picked the last of the randomly growing acorn squash. We got 6 nice squash from a random plant that grew next to an old wood pile. Don't know why, but it was.

Turned under 2 more beds, the tomato and bean beds. I am afraid that winter just around the corner.

Still have kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, lettuce and peas growing. I suspect that barring a really hard frost, we will be well into November.

Be safe, I will try and get some pictures posted.

Bill

It has been too long....a short update

2010-08-05T19:19:00.001-07:00

The berry crop did very well until we got the monsoonal flows of rain. Put up enough red and purple raspberries to get us through the winter. We certainly enjoy them.

The asparagus was good but the early heat prevented us from maximizing the overall crop. Did not freeze any this year as it was appropriate to share with friends.

The kale crop has done exceptionally well with repeat business from harvested plants helping. The brussel sprouts and broccoli were certainly affected by the early heat but seem have recovered well.

Beans were good and the second crop is planted. Peas were iffy but will try for a late crop.

Cucumbers have been very, very good and resulted in sharing as well as putting up 5 quarts of lacto-fermented dill pickles.

Tomato and pepper yields look to once again be down this year due the very wet June/July that we experienced. We might be surprised with the late harvest as lately they seem to be coming on like gang busters.

The onions and garlic are doing great. Harvested the garlic (everything planted last fall produced heads). The onions are still growing and will be harvested in August.

Last but not least the potato crop looks very good. We grew them in wire enclosures this year and had absolutely no issue with potato leaf hoppers. I need to let you know how the yields turned out. Stay tuned.

Off to pull more weeds. That crop has really been a bumper yielder this year.

Later and be safe.

We've made it through our first hot days

2010-06-06T17:56:00.000-07:00

The garden continues to keep right on growing. The patches of hot weather over the last two weeks have not deterred the progress nor the production.

We continue to harvest good amounts of asparagus. Production from the 4 beds is about 6 pounds per week. It looks like we have at least another 3 weeks of production left. We are also harvesting romaine lettuce on a regular basis along with kale, leaf lettuce, and spinach. All seem to be continuing to hold up well in the heat.

The peas, beans, carrots, chard, broccoli, brussel sprouts, onions, cucumbers, and potatoes are all shooting up with the hot days and cooler nights. I am now to the top of the wire bins with leaves and straw for the potato plants. They just seem to keep growing.

I snapped all the garlic scapes today. This is probably the earliest we have seen them. It will be an early harvest.

Snow and frost on May 8-9

2010-05-09T17:56:00.000-07:00

The garden is doing well. We have broccoli, kale, brussel sprouts, lettuce, onions, beets, peas, and spinach planted. On Saturday we awakened to snow on the garden. It was only 35 but the snow was still out there. On Sunday morning we awakened to frost on most things. It wasn't entirely that cold but it was still cold enough to make frost.

I don't think we experienced any damage but only time will tell.

We did get good rain on Friday and are expected to get another 1.5 inches on Monday. Should put a dent on garden work.

The UWGB NAS plant sale is next Saturday. Numbers are being handed out early. Be there or miss the good stuff.

Be safe and be organic.

Bill

Tilling and Planting continues....a full month early

2010-04-18T19:08:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday, April 18, 2010. It was cool today, but definitely not the cold of a winter waiting to return. The wind died down today, a calm amidst the last 4 days of a cold wind out of the NW. It hasn't rained since we go and inch or about 8 days ago. I also don't believe that it will snow again, but remember that we are in Wisconsin.

We continue to move forward with the garden. Thanks to my friend from work, Brent Winebar who was good enough to share some All Blue and Carola potatoes from the ones he was planting in his own garden. I was able to get 3 full hills planted when I supplemented them with some Rose Finn Apple potatoes that I purchase this week. I utilized the plant in the fill technique and then encircled the hill with wire mesh and covered with 6" of leaf mulch. All the potatoes had good swollen eyes and were showing the first signs of roots. Potatoes were planted in #14, which is one of the new beds starting this year.

Earlier this week I planted #13 with onion plants that I started on 3/5. Both red and yellow onions planted in multi-plant blocks, similar to the suggestions of Elliot Coleman. We've had 2 frosts since then and they are doing just fine.

#11 was also planted today with transplants of spinach, swiss chard, and beets. I also planted seed of leaf lettuce, spinach, more beets, and carrots. The entire bed is covered in a plastic hoop house as I suspect we are going to have at least one more good hard frost. Maybe not this week, but definitely the potential exists.

The last bed we planted was #15. Super Sugar Snap peas went in. I will put up the metal fence panels that I use for the trellis this week to make sure I don't kill too many plants by waiting.

I still owe people pictures. It is on my list.

Happy Gardening, 2010 is here!
Bill

More seeds started, beds tilled and bushes trimmed

2010-03-28T17:35:00.000-07:00

It turned out to be a very busy weekend. While the weather was relatively cool and windy on both Saturday and Sunday, I did get the chance to trim out a lot of the woody growth from foundation plantings, trim the currants back (yes, I cut them back very hard), tip the red and purple raspberry plants, and trim off some ground hugging limbs on some blue spruce.

On Saturday morning I planted 3 varieties of broccoli, 2 varieties of brussel sprouts, 2 beets, 2 spinach, romaine lettuce, and kale. In all, I got 108 multi-plant blocks started. With onions, we are now creeping up to 200 multi-plant blocks started. I won't be starting tomato or pepper plants as the selection from the students up at UWGB is always good and offers a more robust selection then I care to.

On Saturday afternoon I also turned over my 2 early beds (potato and greens). The leaf mulch from the fall has broken down substantially and the earthworm population had taken off. A week of warm weather as its forecast should lead to optimal conditions to plant some spuds next weekend and get the A-frame set up on bed #11.

On Sunday I tackled the new area, freshly broken for beds 13-16. I turned the sod over in the fall and it has mellowed nicely over the winter. The Mantis tiller had its work cut out for it but was definitely up to the task. I didn't try to tackle all of the tilling in one move but rather attempted to get the tops knocked off and ready for the next tilling. If time permits, I will be assembling #13-16 beds next weekend and then tilling inside the beds. First thing that will be planted will be onions. In and out quick and allowing for some potential double digging. We'll see how it goes.

As we ran out of time and energy this weekend, I promise to get some picture up and posted next week. However, I wanted to give you a little taste of our recent trip to Kona, HI.

At 9,600 ft of elevation not much grows.

Monday 3/8 standing at 13,700' elevation on top of Muana Kei. The hill in the distance is 70 miles away. And yes, the clouds are below us.

Be safe.
Bill

Greetings from Kona

2010-03-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

Today we are sitting outside on the lanai soaking up the very nice 73 temperature. It is a far sight better than the frost we scraped off the cars on Saturday morning on the way to the airport. Great travel, great house, great weather, and great friends to spend a week in HI.

Just a note on early plantings. I did get the 72 cells of onions planted on Friday 3.5 and expect them to be germinated by the time we get back to WI. I will post more info after returning.

Everything is very quiet and tranquil here. We did get to spend a little time at the farmers market in Kona yesterday. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Pretty wierd to see ripe mangoes and domestic butter banana hands. We also saw avocados that were as big around as softballs, brocolli that was sweet and sooooo very fresh. Fresh tomatoes were the course of action for some really great salsa. Hard to believe that all of this produce came from such a rocky, ill prepared place like this.

Don't know if I want to come back in a week. I will at least post pictures.

Be safe and remember that spring is coming.

Bill

Welcome back from a somewhat long winter (which isn't over)

2010-02-25T19:30:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to drop everyone a note that we are still alive here in De Pere, WI. The snow has been reduced from last year and for the most part, the winter a little milder.

Thoughts are turning to gardening. I had the fortune of attending the Garden Expo in Madison a couple of weeks ago. Lots and lots of people, lots and lots of stuff. Picked up some giant asiatic lilies for the NW bed in the yard, but more importantly, picked up my seeds.

Stopped at Jungs in Sun Prarie and in 45 minutes had all of my seed. Great supply and great variety. Now I am ready.

My plan is to plant our onion seeds in blocks of 6 this year to follow the Elliot Coleman approach. We will be in HI during the week of 7-13 March and plan on seeing a lot of great agriculture. We are staying on the big island so there is less commercialization.

After we get back, I will get some additional plantings started with brussel sprouts, broccoli, and kale.

Be good, be safe. We'll talk soon.

Bill

Dec 6 and snow is predicted for tonight

2009-12-06T19:02:00.000-08:00

We're expected 1-3" of snow tonight and I wanted to get a last shot of the garden before it goes away for the next 4-5 months. We have had a very abundant harvest this year and have decided to add another 11x17 patch to the garden. This will allow us to plant 3 30" rows with a small walking path between.

The one close up is of the garlic bed for next year. It is already tucked away with about 4" of rough compost on top of the planted crop. This is a reduction from the two beds we usually keep but our stores of dehydrated garlic are abundant and it would be good to give the garden a break in the rotation. We'll see where we stand next year.

The third picture is the two leaf bins. Going into the winter we have approximately 200 cu ft of leaves for next year. Should be adequate for making additional compost throughout the year.

Thanks to everyone who has taken a liking to this blog. I hope my ramblings have not lost anyone. We're going to take the balance of December off. Lots to do in the house as well as getting ready for the holidays.

Be safe.

Bill

Hard to believe!

2009-11-21T08:00:00.000-08:00

Today it is supposed to get to 54. One must check the calendar. One must realize that this is Northeast Wisconsin in late November. One must wonder.

Just a short note today as time is very short. We still have lettuce and brussel sprouts left in the garden. Tomorrow I will harvest the last of the vegetables and put the garden to bed. My plan is to post some pictures on a post tomorrow.

For a relatively iffy year, it has turned out pretty good. We should all be thankful.

Be safe.
Bill

The season is coming to an end...

2009-11-08T18:09:00.000-08:00

I find it hard to believe but the 2009 garden season is almost done. The last two days have been in the mid 60's with a nice shot of sunshine to make the days even better. Just the fact that it is already 1/3 of the way into November and we are still able to have this kind of weather makes me smile.

The garden is slowly finishing up. We harvested lettuce today and will most likely be able to continue to cut fresh lettuce until the next frost. Seems we don't have a next frost scheduled for at least another 10 days. We also took the advantage to digging the last of the beet greens. I will wash them well and then saute them with a little garlic and oil on Tuesday night.

Have all the beds tilled (hand spaded) except for the brussel sprout (#7) and lettuce (#8) beds. These will go sometime in the next couple of weeks. Dug #9, #10, and #11 on Saturday and spread green sand and rock phosphate on Sunday.

I also broke sod on #13, #14, and #15 which will be 30"x 16' beds in the Elliot Coleman style (30" bed with a 12" path.). These will be pepper, brussel sprout, and onion beds for next year. I'll take a hard look at adding two additional beds for 2011 depending on the success that 2010 brings. The sod was pretty stout, but the tree roots were even more interesting. I will definitely be challenged with tillage in the spring. We won't rush, but we will do it right.

The weather was so good this weekend, I also got a chance to grind leaves that my neighbor Mike brought. They were exactly the right moisture, dry, but not tinder try. I ground 13 full bags of leaves. For perspective, a full bag will cover a 32 sqft bed about 6 inches deep in ground leaves. By covering the asparagus beds, it builds soil and keeps the weeds down. Putting leaf mulch on the tilled bids creates an environment that the worms really like and adds substantially to the tilth of the soil. I'll keep adding on an annual basis until somebody a lot smarter than me comes along and says stop.

The #1 leaf bin is full (~80 cuft) of leaf mulch/grass clippings (compost). #2 leaf bin is about 2/3 full (~70cuft) of rougher leaves and other garden waste. I also have one of the black compost bins filled with leaf mulch.

Also got a chance to put up the protective wire cages around the blackberries. Last year I was too late and we suffered with substantial damage from the rabbits. Not this year.

Over the next two weekends, I will get the rest of the leaves cleaned up from the yard, mow at least once more, and put my final winterizer fertilizer down. Then we will be ready for Thanksgiving and putting the garden to bed for the year.

Be good, be safe and be organic.

Nov1 and the lettuce is still growing!!!

2009-11-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

Having spent our anniversary in NC with friends and family I have been gone for almost a week. We had a great time in Asheville, NC see how life happens in Western NC. I find it hard to believe that GB can not even support a whole food / organic market. Asheville is 80,000 people and they have 4 markets doing a booming business as well as 2 food co-ops. FRUSTRATION....

We got home this past Thursday. The rain was just starting on the drive home from the airport. It continued to rain all day Friday and at least until mid Saturday morning. Spent Saturday cleaning out the garage and made great headway to get both vehicles back inside. Let the winter start.

Sunday was spent in the garden. Lots was accomplished.
1. Picking of vegetables
Picked about a point of broccoli side shoots. They are nearly done and will most likely get pulled and sent to the leaf bin next weekend. Great results for late season. Will definitely do this again next year.

Cut swiss chard (bright lights), beet greens, and a big dish of lettuce. Yes, I know it is hard to believe but the greens are still growing. I am making every effort to not cover them but still feel that the fact that we even have greens is a win. A really big win. I will cover as long as we continue to stay above 25. We will get a good killing frost soon, but probably not this week.

Cut a big bowl of collard greens to make dehydrated veggie chips with them. Still have two plans left to trim. The collards were mixed with swiss chard, olive oils, Braggs Amino, and nutritional yeast . 12 hours in the dehydrator and yummy, yummy, yummy.

I still have about 9 brussel sprout plants that are still holding onto their prizes for me. Great place to store these little gems. It will be at least another week until we have to start thinking about what we are going to do with them, other than Thanksgiving.

2. Asparagus cleanup.
Cut the fronds down for all 4 beds. Also took the opportunity to weed and clean up the beds. Actually in pretty good shape. Spread 13 oz of GreenSand and 12 oz of Rock Phosphate in each bed. Had a garbage can of potting soil that I needed to find a home for. Fit nicely as a top dressing for the beds. Will spread some leaf mold after the ground freezes.

3. Storing of the leaves
Mike, my great neighbor is really enjoying that fact that he has a place to empty leaves without making his front yard a mess. He collects the leaves with his JD riding lawn mower and dumps them out of the 3 pt carrying bin right next to my leaf bins. While we were away last week he brought over 3 dumps worth. They had some rain and actually stating fermenting. I cleaned them up and finished filling leaf bin #1.

By the time I had everything cleaned up, he had already dumped another load of fresh leaves. Time from bin #2. This bin is 4w x 6d x 4 h. #1 is 4w x 4d x 5h. Between cutting grass/catching leaves from my lawn and what Mike brought over, #2 is now full. It will settle and will take at least another 2 good fills. Who knows, we might even need to put up #3.

All in all, a really good weekend. Seems that winter is getting closer.

Have a great week
Bill

It may be October but we are still gardening

2009-10-17T16:09:00.000-07:00

First off, I need to apologize. It has been toooooooo long since I have sat down and took the time to let people know what was going on in the garden. No explanation, just I'm sorry.

The growing season was less than stellar. Cold early, dry in the middle, and then we got rain and warmth. Alas, it was basically too late to salvage a great year. However, the fall broccoli, brussel sprouts, and all the greens did good. The beans were good enough to freeze some.

Today, I planted 70 white garlic, and 35 purple stripe in bed #5. It was double dug, tilled with the mantis, fertilized with rock phosphate and green sand, and then planted. Note: the garlic follows the tomato/pepper beds.

I also double dug bed #12 to get it ready for winter. We had peas in it as a green manure crop. It didn't start out that way but it certainly turned out that way.

We're getting ready to head to North Carolina next week for our anniversary. Will try and see some organic farms / gardens while we are in the Asheville area.

Until later..
Bill

All right, it has been quite a while since the last update.

2009-07-25T15:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the scoop. The summer has turned out to be a lot more busy than I had originally planned. Work, work, and other stuff. I just got back from North Dakota where I spent a week seeing friends. From everything I see, the garden is just the same, just needing water.

On July 4 we took the last cutting of asparagus. This was a great year as we were able to share with friends and neighbors, put about 10 #'s in the freezer, and still eat more than most people do in a year. The 10 weeks we are able to have fresh asparagus are probably the best time of the year for the garden. We did take 7 #'s to my nephew's wedding over the Memorial Day weekend. It was truely appreciated by all. Right now we are watering and weeding the 4 beds, and will put down lots of compost, probably tomorrow.

On the sugar snap pea front, we have finished 3 of the 4 first plantings. Only thing that I didn't do enough of was to offer good support for the 6' vines. We still have the 4th planting to go and expect to be picking in another week. The 5th planting of Sugar Snap is already up in a 8' row. The 6th planting just went in the row next to it this afternoon between rain showers. Given enough time, we should have some great final pickings. And yes, I did put in cattle panels for the vines to grow on.

I dug the garlic on July 11. It is all tied up in the attic drying. Great crop!. Harvested almost 200 heads. I think everyone that I planted grew. The beds were turned under and 1 went to peas, and the other went to fall broccoli. Probably will cut back next year to only 1 bed. That will be the bed that goes to late peas.

The broccoli has been great. We are harvesting lots of side shoots right now. The Premium Crop was nice, but it is too small for what we really need (and want). Next year I will go back to the more heirloom varieties. The fall broccoli looks great. Transplated 14 plants on 12 July and they are growing to beat the band. Should be some really nice fall produce.

Cauliflower - tried it for the last time. It is too sensitive and I am not willing to invest the time, resources and space to be disappointed.

Brussel Sprouts are great. I just started taking off some of the lower leaves. Now is the time to keep it watered good. Will mulch tomorrow.

Lettuce, beets, and swiss chard continue to be our greens. Eberythng that we like and need. Will harest some beets for cooking in the next few days. They are from the left over thinnings. I will plant some more where #3 peas came out.

Beans are just flowering and will plant the third planting tomorrow. I know it is late, but better late than NOT.

The currants are great this year. Took almost 5#'s of red to the freezer already. Need to pick more tomorrow if time permits.

The raspberries are in full picking right now. Have froze over a gallon and will most likely freeze another gallon tomorrow. Freezer space will be a premium as we have 25#'s of strawberries in there already.

Will try and get some pictures but right now am spending my time keeping the weeds at bay.

Again, I apologize for the lateness, but...

The weather has finally turned hot!

2009-06-19T17:55:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting week. The weather has been all over the map, but in the end turned warmer. We are now into the hot and humid. This afternoon we got a shot of humidity related rain with more reported to be in store for tonight. It's not that we need it, but we'll not turn it away.

This week marked the first pulling of old, spent plants. The early planted spinach and lettuce gave way to the planting of bush beans: green and yellow. Right now, we have 30 seeds in and will start to think about succession planting. Harvesting lots of lettuce, spinach, beet greens from #2, as #3 planting is coming right along. Nothing better than a fresh green salad.

Peas #1 are in full bloom. Seems the heat and humidity have just pushed them to the next stage. #2 and #3 are coming right along. Expect a good harvest as they will come in waves. Expect that they will be done just about the time it is ready for the next planting of greens.

We continue to harvest the asparagus. Taking about 3-6#'s per week. Some in the freezer, some on the BBQ. Great year for the green stalk. Will look for the weekend of the 4th to be the end of the harvest. At that time, will weed and compost heavy. Time to get ready for next year.

The cole crops are coming right along. All of the early planted broccoli are in head and will probably cut next week for raw eating. This will set us up for great shoots later in the year. The cauliflower is coming right along as is the brussel sprouts.

Tomato and pepper plants are a little behind. The cooler wet weather in early June certainly put them behind. Looks like they are starting to catch up.

Snapped all of the garlic scapes last night. Should be a great year for garlic. All of the cloves that were put in the ground last year have materialized into plants.

Took the opportunity to take some of the compost liquor (some would say tea, but I would put it more as the seepage from a strong batch) and use it as a side dress around the cole crops, peppers, and tomato plants. Didn't look like we killed anything but, you never know.

The late plants of broccoli are coming along just fine. Transplanted them into individual pots and they are liking being in the hot sun. Needing to keep them watered, sometimes twice per day.

Tonight's dinner was grilled chicken, lettuce salad, grilled onions and mushrooms. MMMMmmm good.

Stay safe, more pics soon.
Bill

My weekly update.... Late.... Sorry

2009-06-04T18:16:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have no been considerate of those that might want to see some pictures. Actually, it has been very busy lately and given the fact that we have had some continuing weird weather, I have actually done some other things that needed to get done. The other excuse that I can use is that we had to get a new charger for the digital camera battery. Seems someone (me) decided that it was not all that necessary (probably left it in IL at the hotel). None the less, here we are.

Have been having a grand old time making compost. As can be seen in the picture, we use the Compost Tumbler to mix kitchen scraps, weeds, grass clippings and two really large piles of chopped leaves from last year. Right now, we have two of the black bins full of rough compost and the compost tumbler is filled with its third batch this year. Checked the temperature early today and glad to report it was cooking right along at 155. Added some extra leaves to it as the mix was a little too wet. In another 2 weeks, we will have another batch to discharge. Don't need the compost right now but there will be need in the next 6 weeks either in the asparagus or brassica beds.

This picture shows the progress of our brassica. A lot of these were stagger planted through April. In general, the broccoli and brussel sprouts are in the 12-14" height area. I would expect to see some heads forming quickly. The weather has been just perfect for the cool season crops. At the far end of the bed are 3 cauliflower. I have never had a whole bunch of success with this crop, but am willing to give a the college try. We'll see. If you look real close at the bottom of the picture you will see another cage. Inside are my fall broccoli. They will go into the garlic beds for a later crop, up until the frost hits.

They may look small but there is a secret lurking. These plants are in the ground about three weeks. There is as much or more buried in the ground as you see above the ground. My success with tomato plants has been to bury them deep and let them fend for themselves. The root mass they form will keep them going through the heat of summer. These guys are really coming along. The fruit will not be early, but it will be good.

Peas and lettuce.
You are looking at our first planting (around 4.11) We have already eaten through this lettuce, spinach and beets. The lettuce will give up another crops and we will get some great leaves from the spinach before it goes to the compost pile. Have to tell you that one is not able to buy this in the store. A little balsamic and EVOO is all it takes to make a great meal. Last night we had a piece of grilled salmon on it.

Cucumbers and Garlic

Interplanted the cucumbers into the greens bed (see above pics). Really taking hold, it will soon be time for the trellis to go up. Looking forward to the fresh cucumbers. The garlic is, well garlic. We go through a lot of it, it does a great job of coming up every spring and it opens beds up for a late planting of beans, peas, and greens. Have not spotted the scapes yet, but they aren't that far away.

Hope this gets you caught up a little. We have also been weeding and keeping the perennials going after splitting. Could use a little heat and rain. Should see the rain over the weekend. We're off to visit the relatives again this weekend. Need to slow down a little bit.

Be good, be safe.
Bill

Field Report....Edwardsville, IL

2009-05-23T12:16:00.000-07:00

Spending the weekend in down state IL for my nephew's wedding. Until you drive through thousands of acreas of unplanted fields you don't appreciate the amount of rain that this part of the country had. Lots of planting and tilling going on, and a whole bunch left to do.

Had our first shot at humid and 86. A little different than the usual 70's in De Pere.

We got out and visited the Edwardsville Farmers Market this morning. Obviously early but saw lots of greens, some really great brocolli, and asparagus. Most sold out very quickly but in talking with people, a lot more to come. Glad to see that there was a strong commitment to organic. OMRI was posted a lot of places.

Will get home on Monday night and plan on spending Tuesday in the garden/yard getting caught up.

Have a great and safe holiday.

Bill

Getting ready for Memorial Day

2009-05-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

Quick note tonight. We are getting ready to head south for my nephew's wedding on Sunday in Edwardsville, IL. Should be a good time to see family and friends. We got a nice shower about 5 pm that will go a long way to avoid having to put any water down until we get home on Monday. The asparagus keeps coming as we were able to pick another 3 #'s to take an grill on Saturday.

The garden looks great. Pulled a few weeds in the garlic and asparagus. The second batch of compost in the tumbler should be finished by the time we are back. Looks like we will also be able to get in the last planting of peas on Tuesday. Also will take the opportunity to get in the first planting of beans next week.

Mary picked up some flowers today at a new greenhouse. She took a trip with friends out to see Thistledown Greenhouse in Bonduel. Sounds like we will be going back. Planted some Eryngium 'Blue Hobbit' (Sea Holly) and Euphorbia 'First Blush' (Cushion Spurge). Should do nice out front in the front flower beds.

Gotta run. Things to do and pack before we leave for tomorrow. We'll talk next week.

Over the holiday take a moment to be thankful for the country we live in. It may not be perfect but it is still the best thing going. Be thankful for the sacrifice that all those have given to make it what it is today. Have a safe Memorial Day.

Bill

Catching up - Tueday 5.19.09

2009-05-19T19:48:00.001-07:00

Ok, it has been busy. A lot to do and the weather has been less than cooperative.

Saturday was spent staying warm. This was the UWGB plant sale. Picked up 8 tomato plants, 13 pepper plants, and 2 nice cucumber plants. #19 in line is the best I have ever been. It was just plain rotten the rest of the day.

Sunday I planted the tomato plants and put up the Wall O'Water around all of them. The green meanies look weird but they really do soak up the BTU's. By the end of the day, the water was quite warm and the plants were safely nestled in the ground. I know, harden off, get them ready. Past experience shows that the best thing is to get the plants in the ground (bury them deep) give a good feed of kelp meal and bone meal and let them adjust. Have not lost a plant in 10 years doing it this way. The best part is that the roots are really down deep.

We also spent a lot of time dividing plants. Liatris and ornamental grasses seemed to be the candidate. Got all the division spread around the beds and properly disseminated into the neighborhood.

Monday was school board that lasted until after dark.

Tuesday was a busy day in the garden again. Planted the peppers and cucumbers. Forecast calls for warm and a touch of rain. Should be perfect for the plants. No WOW for the peppers, they should be OK. Also cut more asparagus (~3#'s). The beds are coming pretty fast right now. The neighbors are happy, the inlaws happy, and the wife is happy. Fresh aspargaus is a great thing.

Need to do a call out for my father-in-law. Jim did a great job in helping make some new rabbit stopping devices for the raised beds. The design was flawless and as usual, over engineered. Pictures after we get back from St Louis this weekend.

Eric, my nephew gets married on Sunday. Will get a chance to catch up with the family once again. It should be fun.

We'll talk on ..... well, next week.

It might be May, but it is not summer!

2009-05-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

Fresh asparagus never tasted so good. We have now been cutting for about 12 days. It is really starting to come now. The garlic is also looking very good. We have side dressed it with our homemade fertilizer blend and it really seems to have taken.

The cole crops are all planted as of the writing of this update. The peas are a little behind, but are now starting to take off with the advent of warmer weather.

This is the third planting of beets. A little sparse in the germination, but I can attribute that to the age of the seed (1-2 years).

I have been less than prompt on keeping up with the garden updates. For that I am sorry, but things do get prioritized. Last Friday I took the time and helped put in our new dock at the lake about 90 miles north of us. It turned out to be the best day of the weekend as we enjoyed temps in the 60's and nice sunshine. Saturday and Sunday greeted us with bouts of rain and temps in the 40's and 50's. Not the best to be trying to do something in the garden.

On Monday, I was able to get a few of the beds tilled and finished planting the last of the brussel sprouts (Jade E Cross), a row of beets, spinach and lettuce, along with 2 more double rows of peas. This makes 3rd and 4th plantings. We should get the 4th/5th in before we leave for StLouis and Memorial Day.

The berry plants look very good. Purples and reds are all doing great. The currants are heavy with flowers and should yield another great crop this year.

More pictures soon.

Rain is predicted for Wednesday and Friday PM. Figures, its May in Wisconsin. Going to the NAS Plant Sale at UWGB on Saturday morning. Would like to come home with 23 plants. Planning on getting there early (~630).

Gotta run, busy day at work tomorrow.
Keep your hands dirty.
Bill

Don't fret.... I didn't forget.

2009-05-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

Away for the weekend. I should be home later tonight and if there is some light, I will get something on the next post about how the garden is doing. Fully expect to see a lot of asparagus through the mulch (found 2 right before we left).

Spring might just actually be here.

See you soon.
Bill

Another sneak attack at summer

2009-04-25T07:10:00.000-07:00

Greetings from what was a warm Friday at the end of April in Wisconsin.

Yesterday we got to the high 70's after a rough start to the day which brought out some gloomy skies, gusty winds, and a blustery cold shower. As the day progressed the yellow orb continued to share with us poor earthlings. I could feel the itch all day that it was time to plant some more.

Finished my work day and the call of the local garden center was loud and clear. The truck didn't want to go home, rather to see what new specimens were there waiting to go into the vegetable garden. Picked up 3 3-packs (Premium Crop broccoli, Early Snowball cauliflower, and Georgia collards. Had to hunt around a little bit to find just the ones I was looking for, you know the ones, good growth but not the older plants. The garden center guy reminded me that it really was too early to be planting as we might have snow yet. I just didn't have the heart to tell him that I was already ahead of him by almost a week.

The soil was cool, slightly damp but still very friable. Got all of the plants in, taking the time to make sure they sat a little deeper into the planting holes. This will allow for a more focused water effect and based on past results, a stronger plant as the roots go deeper. Moved the covered fencing on to the new plants. This should protect them from any hard rains that we would get.

A light cultivation for the plants we put in last week. More so to keep the crusty soil in check but also to smooth the planting bed a little.

Took a hard look at the greens and pea planting from 2 weeks ago. We have had some rather cool and damp weather in that time, even some measurable snow. Yes, we have lettuce, spinach and beets breaking the surface. I was a little concerned about the peas, but a little digging quickly sent me to covering the sprouted seeds back up. Trust, good soil not overworked, amended with the right amount of organic matter will deliver. Trust.

The planting continued. Given that we were at the two week planting window, it was time to put more greens and peas into the bed. So...... another row of spinach, beets, and lettuce and 2 double rows of peas. I did take the time to make sure I finger-poked the peas in rather than digging out a trench.

Curious was the nature of my mind. Was the asparagus growing? The answer was yes and no. Yes, I did find some of the nice white shoots started. However, they were buried under the leaf mulch and still very cool. Need to leave the mulch on for at least another 2 weeks. Then we'll make a decision to take off or just let asparagus push its way through.

My wonderful wife reminded me that it was Friday, it was the end of the work week and it was starting to get dark. Given that appropriate prodding, I grilled up some thick cut pork loin chops, fresh asparagus (from the store), and a sweet onion. I am so glad that spring/summer/not winter is here. The time spent outside makes the food that much better.

It's now Saturday morning and it is raining. You know, cold to the bone rain. It is supposed to last until Sunday night. No snow, but a good rain. We do need it, but it could be a little warmer.

Next weekend is set for a quick dash to Minnesota to deliver some furniture and household stuff for our college kids. Its also an off week on the planting schedule. Weather for the next week is predicted to be in the mid-50's for the highs with lows in high 30's. Hopefully we will be able to start drying out.

Sorry there weren't any pictures. Time got short.

Stay dry.
Bill

Can this really be spring?

2009-04-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

Ok, this can't really be spring. Yesterday we worked the whole day in the mid 70's and today it is a balmy 44. At least we are starting to get some rain. My update today will be garden, politics, and education. First the important things.

The garden is quickly starting to move in the real part of the season. As you can see from the picture, a lot of brown dirt. But there is more. There is the first broccoli and brussel sprouts that are planted. Tried to purchase some on Friday but had a well meaning garden shop tell me that it was 2-3 weeks too early. He did not want to disappoint me. Seem that relationship should be the other way around, is the customer still right even when they are wrong? Thought long and hard about it Friday night over another wonderful meal at Vita Restaurant in Green Bay. Bottom line, a well placed phone call on Saturday could turn up an alternate source.

Turns out that I was able to find some plants. Put in three (3) Jade E Cross brussel sprouts plants and three (3) Premium Crop broccoli plants. Seems that Stein Garden Center in Bellevue was certainly keeping the customer in mind. Got there right about 8 am and the store was empty. The plants looked great, nice and fresh. The person doing the checkout said the truck dropped them on Friday night. Happy, happy, happy. If you looked under the 6 coverings in the picture, you would see the new arrivals all tucked in and beginning a new life in my garden.

The plantings from last week have still not shown their little heads. It was cool when we put them in and I actually had to water the spinach, lettuce and beets. Today we are getting a pretty steady drizzle, cool but not cold. We are predicted to get some warmer weather later in the week. That coupled with the new moisture will certainly push things along quickly.

As for the rest of the garden, the asparagus and raspberry beds are just starting to break dormancy. I expect that the rain along with some warmer temps will push things right along in the next few weeks. Soon, we will be eating fresh asparagus. I can't wait. I will make sure to put some good pictures in as we start to see some action.

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Political Commentary
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The stock market showed some modest upticks last week continuing for a sixth week to show signs of a "recovery". If you listen hard enough you might even believe the prognosticators and call it a recovery or just the visible part of a dead cat bounce. Don't know which one it is but I do know that we are still in for a lot of change.

I still am not of the opinion that President Obama has the firmest of grips on the plan that he can label as his. There continue to be a lot action being taken on a lots of fronts. The two that I still think bear the most watching are the stress tests that banks will have taken and the nationalized auto manufacturing industry. Both still have a lot of definitional content to be completed on them. Time will tell, but I am still hopeful for Ford to make it through the mess.

Will there be banks that fail? I think the answer has to be yes. Right now the government is stuck somewhere in the middle of the credibility field. All banks are not created equal. If they were, we would not be in the position that we are. This question also continues the debate around paying TARP money back. If DC is not going to actively nationalize the banks (I never think they intended that) then TARP money can, and should, be paid back. Move on, let the strong survive. Let the herd be thinned. We've done this once before, let's get it done.

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Education
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Now, for my little rant of the week.

The education system is broken and in dire need of repair. Funding priorities for k-12 in Wisconsin have become so convoluted that it takes someone a fair sight smarter than me to rationalize it on a going basis. At our present rate, we will have so many unfunded mandates that it will be impossible for even the financially strong districts to survive. Right now, Mr. Doyle is using the slight of hand to make the budget whole, but the reality is the cookie jars are all empty, the IOU's are getting old (and potentially worthless), and the loanshark that he used to shore up this year's budget (the Feds) have put a whole bunch of nasty restrictions on the money. Not a pleasant way to look at it.

Don't even get me started about the whole university game.

Well, it has taken me on and off most of the afternoon to get this finished. It will be a busy week, but I do expect that we will be able to get through it and look next week end in the face.

Hope you like, we'll be back soon.
Bill

Tilling the soil, a restaurant review, and planting

2009-04-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

No ranting, at least not right now. Too many positive things about the garden.

Yesterday I actually got the chance to get the Mantis tiller fired up and ran it through the raised beds in the garden. Wow, I was surprised at how friable the soil was and the impact the shredded leaves made to it this year. All of the beds were tilled and raked smooth. There was not one bed that was too wet to work. Cold, you bet they were but the ground was ready to go. Also took a moment to manually fluff the leaf mulch on the asparagus and garlic. Nice to see those little shoots of green poking their arms up. It must be spring.

Saturday looks like a day for planting.

First though one needs to take in the proper nourishment to sustain ones soul, mind, and body. Off to VITA, a neat new experience in raw vegan. Yes, a lot cutting edge for Green Bay but in the thoughts of this rookie, a definite you must go back and hit it a second (and third...) time kind of place. Bianca White may be on to something here. Mary and I had the Thai Curry soup and other than a suggestion that the avocado could have been chopped instead of a slice, a certain thumbs up. We each had a different pizza, flatbread with nutbutter and other toppings. Fennel, onion, and cherry tomato along with spices made mine a wow. Mary had the Hawaiin with mango, tomato and sprouts and while sharing between us, I think she wanted to keep the whole thing. Each plate came with 3 large pieces and this card-carrying carnivore was pleasantly full.

We did get into the desert menu with Lemon Poppyseed cheesecake and lavendar ice cream. Yes, both were great, non-dairy and eye opening. Wonder what they could come up with in the spirit of a Key Lime pie?

Going back? You bet.

Now, back to our regular programming.

Saturday saw the first seeds go in the ground. Beets, spinach, lettuce, and two varieties of edible pod peas. Too cold, I really don't think so. Even if we get erratic germination, it will still result in edible greens by the middle of May. Planted about 1/2 of the bed which leaves another planting to be done around 4.24. Maybe by that time we are also getting ready for brassica.

Weather is supposed to stay fairly warm tomorrow (~50) so we should be seeing some additional soild warming. Monday is predicted for rain and it most likely will be cold. Welcome to Wisconsin.

Stay warm, stay dry, remember that spring is almost here. Until next week.

Bill

Local/State/Federal Accountability

2009-04-05T18:22:00.000-07:00

RANT
Ok, its Sunday night and I am entitled to a little rant. Has anyone taken a good look at the news these days? Washington is standing tall and taking no personal accountability for helping to fix the mess we are in. Earmarks, once a hot topic of the election trail, are now the new pork fat. Even our neat little guy Steve Kagen has mastered the quest. President Obama, put an end to it, use your veto.

The mess in Madison is the newest game of smoke and mirrors. Take the pork from Washington, fill some holes so that they don't look so bad today, and keep looking for new sources of dollars that can be squandered. The tobacco money is gone, the transportation cookie jar has a useless IOU in it, and the state budget is still a mess. Governor Doyle, don't ask for more taxes, figure out how we can get by with less services.

Now I will get a little closer to home. The school budget process is broke. If you happen to live in a traditionally growing district in WI, you probably aren't in bad shape. However, if you are just holding your own or shrinking in overall enrollment then you had better hold on. Madison has used the Fed money to shore up the ugly mess they have made of the state budget. Only problem with that is (1) strings are attached and (2) it has a short life of usefullness. Some will get sucked into the bait and switch game of public finance, hopefully the list will be short.

Will it end? I don't know. I hope so.

There are a number of elections to vote on this week. Please, if you haven't gotten involved in a while, please vote. At least it will be your voice trying to be heard.

Have a great week. We didn't get the snow. Hopefully we can get this train back on the tracks by next week.

Bill

Is spring really here?

2009-04-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

Today marks what might be considered the first day of spring. I know, spring started a number of days ago. I lost that count somewhere in the middle of the last snow storm we had. The winter has been long and hard and one really needs to understand that we here in northeast Wisconsin have gone back to back with 100" snowfall winters. Too long.

Today was nice, mid 40's and lots of sunshine. I can't hold out the hope for tomorrow being the same. I just check the weather at Intellicast and already see that the rain has crossed through Madison and is coming towards us. Temperature is predicted to be 34 and a call for 1-3" of snow. Remember, spring is here.

Hidden in those 12 raised beds is garlic (2) and asparagus (4). All organic and all waiting for a little more warmth. I did take the time to fluff the leaf mulch on top that we put on last fall. The Simplicity lawn vac did a great job of shredding the leaves and speeding the decomposition. I got all beds turned over last fall with the exception of one, but the hard winter does a great job of mellowing the soil.

One if the great things about organic gardening is the desire to want to stick your hand into the soil, cold though it may be just to feel the connection once again. Seeing that the worms are already active is a reminder that something is going right.

When we started with this soil almost 12 years ago, it was clay. Good Wisconsin red clay. Now you don't have to break your back to double dig the beds (always try to get 2 per year. Probably are at a place where we can start slowing down on the organic matter, but will stay very heavy on the compost.

A quick peak at the chives. If you look close, you will see that the new green is already starting to poke their heads through. I was tempted to take some of the old growth off, but I got burned a couple of years ago with a late freeze. I know we will get a few more shots at the cold, so I will hold off.

It will be time to start making up seed tapes. The link gives a great formula for the glue and pictures of the final outcome. I have used a process like this in the past, but the flour/water glue will help a bunch.

I did not start any plants inside this year. Work plans had called for some travel that would have prevented the attention required. Mary's schedule is heavy with work, class, and teaching Nia making a better choice the commercial purchase of plants. I would heartily recommend the plant sale at UWGB on 16May 2008, a Saturday. Great tomatoes and peppers (and more). The heirlooms are well worth the time and effort. Funds go to support the Cofrin Center for Biodiversity. A good community effort and good people at the sale.

Remember, the good word is spring is here, well kind of.

Be good. We're making a committment to be a lot more active here with gardening updates and random musings.

Bill

Well we had our December thaw...

2008-12-28T15:44:00.000-08:00

Our thaw was short and to the point. We had two days of 40+ temps and a lot of the snow melted. Oh, did I forget to say that we also had almost an inch of rain. Oh well, my roof was raked and most of the snow melted. Can't say the same for the neighbors. They have a large ice block on their roof now.

We had another 3" of snow last night with more expected on Tuesday and Thursday. December was a record with over 40" of snow. It is going to be quite a winter.

Stay warm.
Bill

Rain in December...welcome to WI

2008-12-14T09:43:00.000-08:00

40 degrees today and raining. The snow will stay, but I'm sure the impending cold front that will come through tonight will make for some interesting traffic tomorrow. Slush and salt will be the order of the day.

Curious to tell if Detroit and Washington are going to get their little spat over with. Seems like everyone is in the sandbox but nobody is playing. Perhaps the best thing is to let the whole shooting match go down the drain into bankruptcy. If that happens, there will be testing of the financial systems. A test yes, but not the end. There is strength in all of this mix.

We shall see tomorrow.
Bill

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

2008-12-12T19:00:00.000-08:00

You might think this is going to be about snow. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Just got back from Hawaii. Thought I would tantalize you with a little shot of heaven. This is the sunset from the north shore of Oahu. We saw a great day of surfing at the Bonzai Pipeline and spent the time watching the sun go down. What a sight to see.

To put this in perspective, the temps were in the 80's with a heavy dose of sunshine. If it did rain, it was not for more than 5 minutes and then the sun came right back out.

We left the cold and the snow in Wisconsin. The change of weather was great, but as the week wore on, it was a good thing to remember that home was where it was and Hawaii was vacation. The airlines ran great, O'Hare was tolerable, and we did see 3 deer playing in the snow in the front yard when we drove in the driveway on Friday morning at 0315.

Welcome home.

Winter is starting to get here......

2008-11-08T10:21:00.000-08:00

Cold today, quite a change from the balance of the week. Hard to believe that we had over 70 for a high and now we are struggling to get over 40 for a high, all in the same week. Snow showers have deposited a hint of white on the roof and lawn, but by mid afternoon it will all be gone.

Still have brussel sprouts to harvest this year. All in all,we have had better results from the garden. Hopefully we will have more next year.

Went Denny Crain (Boston Legal) this week. For those of you that know me, quite a shift in politics, but what the real issue called for was change. Time will tell.

It has been a while.....

2008-05-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

Time to get a little caught up. It is now 8.5.4 and the snow is finally done (hopefully). We have now got brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, broccoli raab, and lettuce planted. We got a frost last week but it looks like the plants are still going to make it through.

The first planting of peas are up with two plantings of greens and a planting of broccoli raab up. We shall see.

Waiting for 8.5.17 and the plant sale at UWGB. I will be there this year to get my peppers.

Will post another update this week with advise as to how the berry plants have made it through.

Well the snow had continued, but it is warmer

2008-01-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

Getting up to almost 25 today. Spent most of the morning shoveling snow and roof raking. By 1400 most of the raked roof was already warmed down to the shingles. The downspouts are running and the runouts are clear. Didn't look like much ice dam action but... it will do the roof well to get it open. Probably in excess of 14" on the roof.

The leaf piles continue to shrink and compress. It is hard to believe that with it as cold as it has been that the heat from composting can still be happening. There will be some very good leaf mold in the spring. The compost bins are sill working well and room is still left to keep adding. Again, looking forward to some good compost come spring. Probably will have to do some additional turning and watering.

Sunday will be the day for putting wire around the blackberries and taking a hard look at the reds/purples.

Should be getting cold again later in the week, but until then rain is in the forecast for Monday. Hard to believe that we go from -25 to almost 40.

Spring is coming.

Snow and bitter cold

2008-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

We have gone from the too warm to the too cold. About a week ago it was raining. The past two days we have awoke to -15. At least we have snow on the ground.

Took a look for damage to plants. Looks like the bunnies are having a field day with the black berries. I will put up some fencing to prevent anymore damages. Doesn't look like they like the currants. Need to take a look at the red/purple raspberries to determine if there is more damage than just the blacks.

Snow load on the Carol Mackie daphne is large. The limbs are frozen in place so will leave them to thaw out. Will need to prune back in spring, probably pretty hard. Doesn't look good, but haven't found more around the yard.

The snow cover will do us good. Looking around the neighborhood I see the beginnings of ice build up on roofs. Glad we have used the roof rake.

Oh well, garden time will be in 90 days (at most). Spring is near.

Another catalog

2008-01-05T08:48:00.000-08:00

It is probably easier to talk about the mass catalogs that are starting to show in the mailbox at this time of year but I really want to talk about one today. That would be the Nourse Farms (www.noursefarms.com) folks. We have had a great amount of success with their products and would heartily recommend them. The raspberry, ribes (currants), and asparagus plants have been the healthiest and most productive. We did have a very tough year in 2006 with establishing some raspberry plantings and lost about 35% of the new plants. The folks at Nourse stood 100% right behind them. The new plants went in early May 2007 and came along just fine.

I won't be planting anything new from Nourse this year but still like to get their catalog and think about the next changes.

The last few weeks have seen some good snowfall and relatively cold temps. Today, and for the next few days, the temps should moderate into the high 30's and melting should take place.

Saw a neat diagram for a mini-greenhouse for putting over the raised beds. Pretty much a PVC frame that a spun polyester sheeting fits over. Will do some thinking of how to make this fit for what I need in our garden. Stay tuned for more updates.

Remember, spring is now only 5 months (150 or so days) away. The snow will leave eventually.

Is it already time for seeds?

2007-12-23T08:13:00.000-08:00

The Jung seed catalog came in yesterdays mail. The big question is does this really signal the beginning of the new season or is it merely a fake, an attempt to lure us into the thinking that Spring is just around the corner. One can merely contemplate the possibilities. I tend to much more of a pragmatist than I believe one should comfortably be.

Yesterday it rained and stayed in the 30's. This morning it was 46 at 0600 but by 0730 the blowing snow had transformed the sights outside the window. It all depends on where you are and where you want to be. I tend to remember that the calendar says it is not yet Christmas and that while the frost might not be deep in the ground, the environment will continue to remind us that NE WI will be in winter for at least the next 120 days before we should be thinking about planting outside.

That said, it is very appropriate to start looking forward to the new seed catalogs that will be coming in the mail. The tendency will be to over dream, over plan, and in more than one instance, over buy. I must admit that the great amounts of counseling have slowed the "over" tendencies for me. Realism is now part of the plan. Stay tuned, more to come....

A start for next year

2007-12-22T12:37:00.000-08:00

It's cold and rainy today, the kind of weather that chills right to to the bone. Not too cold, just enough to invite you out to do some things and take advantage of raw weather. Snow will come tonight with much colder temps. Tomorrow we should see a high of 22 and then lower, lower, lower. Blowing snow will be the recipe Christmas Eve, Eve.

Got the last of the tillage done today. Turned over the last 4 beds. Had to shovel the snow off the beds, but as suspected the frost had been drawn out. The ground remains drier than what it should be. A definite watch out for next spring. The frost was only .5-1.0 inches deep and easily penetrated with a pointed shovel. This will end the for the year.

The photo shows the 4 beds that were tilled (front left and center). The 4 beds across the back of the garden are asparagus. The large piles across the back of the very back are the leaf mold piles from this falls leaves. A lot of leaves, but much smaller in total piles due to the shredding of the leaves with the yard vac. As I start thinking about seeds for next year, I will put some of my thoughts out here for comment.